Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The White House is now questioning General Stanley McChrystal's judgment and maturity because of comments which he made to a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine. See here. But perhaps we should also be questioning the judgment and maturity of President Barack Obama. When he was still just a Senator from Illinois campaigning for the presidency, Mr. Obama painted religious belief as a sort of crutch saying that, "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and a like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them....And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them.."

And speaking of antipathy toward people who are different, as President, Barack Obama described the thinking of millions of Americans as backward, saying that those who are morally opposed to homosexuality because of their belief in Divine Revelation and or Natural Law are clinging to "worn arguments and old attitudes." See here.

Yes the General works for the President - the Commander-in-Chief. But the President works for the American people. And some of his remarks have been nothing less than immature, insensitive and even cruel. And they too demonstrate a lack of good judgment and even common sense.

Compare President Obama's attitude toward religion and the American people with that of our first President, George Washington. In his Farewell Address given on September 19, 1796, President Washington said in part that, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them..."

But President Obama hasn't respected the great pillars of religion and morality. Instead, he views these as a sort of crutch. And while Mr. Obama doesn't hesitate to insult the American people - the same people he is supposed to be working for - President Washington's attitude was markedly different. In the same address, he said, "Though in reviewing the incidents of my Administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence..."

There is plenty of immaturity to go around these days. If the White House is really concerned about the problem of immaturity, it should first look within.

President Obama found the general's comments to be inappropriate. Not many would argue this. But his own comments have been reckless and inappropriate at times. And when the Vice President used the F - word, the President didn't seem very concerned but brushed away any criticism.

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About Me

Born in Bitburg, Germany,
Paul Melanson is a Catholic lay-philosopher and apologist whose work has appeared in many publications and websites including The Union Leader, The Wanderer, Seattle Catholic, Newsblaze, Helium, and Amazines. He has been interviewed by The National Catholic Register, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the television newsmagazine Chronicle.